Tag Archives: Restaurant

Did you notice the new badge on my blog posts? I am a member of the Food Bloggers of Canada! It is an incredible group of people and the great admin work hard to help us bloggers get better with resources and opportunities. They are even planning a conference for next year!

I was lucky enough to participate in a recent opportunity, to review Just-Eat.ca. Armed with $50 in credit, @WineGuyTO and I perused the menus. We found that it was heavy on Indian, Thai and Japanese, that being standard take-out fare. We wanted to try somewhere new, which was difficulty to narrow down as the delivery area is quite large. We decided on Indian, choosing Kama Sutra (we live in the South Bayview area) as we are familiar with Amaya (also in the area) and wanted to make a comparison.

Ordering is simple: Choose the restaurant, then just click on what you want and it is put on the order sheet on the top right corner of your screen. Items are easily deleted if you change your mind. We ordered: Onion Bhaji, Butter garlic naan, Butter Chicken, Lamb Sheesh Kebab and Prawn Pakoras (sorry, we ate so quickly these are the only photos). With tax, and the built-in driver tip (love that being an option!) our bill was $57.

Prawn Pakoras

Onion Bhaji

I really like the service, especially the pre-ordering. A pop-up lets you know that the restaurant is closed, but you can still create an order and set when you want it delivered. I could see making an order from work for later, a real time saver! Once ordered, the restaurant may call to confirm your order as well.

I only had one hiccup, my code for credit didn’t work! But that allowed me to try out another function, their online instant help. A pop-up window appeared and a customer service rep quickly introduced herself and how she could help. The problem was resolved in another way, but I liked the pop-up feature. Would I use Just-Eat again? Yes!

This slogan greets you on Gerrard Ave as you approach Batifole restaurant. And its true.

I first ‘discovered’ Batifole during a Summerlicious about 5 years ago and have made it my birthday dinner spot ever since. The name of the restaurant comes from the French verb ‘batifoler’ which means to frolic. From previous posts here, you will recall that I spent time in Brittany, France. This is one of the reasons I enjoy Batifole, the chef, Jean-Jacques Texier, is (I believe from an early visit conversation) from Northern France and there are many Brittany-inspired dishes. WineGuyTo loves it because of the over 300 wines on the menu. For this meal, he choose a Saint Joseph 07 Cave Saint Desirat (Appellation Saint-Joseph Controlée), it was very nice.

Saint Joseph 07 Cave Saint Desirat

There are 2 things I always have when I visit: a Kir Royale (5 variations to choose from) and the frites with house-made tarragon mayo.

Kir Royale Framboise

There is a menu of the day, reflecting seasonal items. Checking today, none of what we ate is there. At this dinner, there was also a Puff Pastry with Asparagus and Mushroom as an appetizer and a Côte de Veau Farsi au Jambing Cruise et Fromage de Chèvre, Jus au Romarin** (sorry no pics, eaten too quickly!)

I had the duck (its a weakness of mine) and WineGuy had the lamb.

Duo de Canard, Cuisse et Magret Rotie au Thyme, Olives et Ratatouille

Lamb with seasonal asparagus

I had to have dessert 🙂 So we got two!

Iced Chocolate Mousse with a Macaroon

Crêpes with Lemon Sugar and Butter

Batifole is a great spot, cozy and affordable, especially for the richness of the food. This year though, we are going somewhere different for my birthday (see post later this week!) but will return here as soon as we can.

**sorry for any/all bad French, we took notes quickly and without accent keys.

Like this:

I love Winterlicious and Summerlicious. I have tried to go out at least once for each, and find its a great way to have a night out with friends without breaking the bank. I faithfully try new restaurants each and have been pleasantly enticed enough to make some a regular night out.

We chose the shrimp, caesar and cranberry salads, and calamari for appetizers; the lobster and the steaks for mains; and the chocolate mousse and cheesecake for dessert.

Overall it was good, nothing spectacular. The wait staff and front staff were nicely attentive without being obtrusive. The bread with humus was a nice change from olive oil or butter. I liked the fact that there was more than one vegetarian option as this previously is a drawback when trying to coordinate dinners with vegetarian friends. The best part was the wine, a lovely Spanish red, Cepas Antiguas Tempranillo 2009.

This dinner I was excited for as I had never had Moroccan food before. The couple we ate with always like to try not just new places but different types of food. Two of us had the soup, one the cigars and the last the duck salad as appetizers. They were all great. For our mains, we had the salmon, the lamb stew and the short rib. The first was a little dry and the mango salsa didn’t do anything for the salmon. The rib was quite large and literally fell off the bone with the bone was picked up. For dessert we tried all three. Nothing spectacular but delicious. We again had a Spanish red, Puerta de Alcalà Crianza 2006.

I was the most disappointed with this dinner. Not by the food, but by the service. There was only one wait staff and a full house (seats around 25). We were instructed to hang our jackets, while others who entered after us were helped with theirs. We weren’t given water or a drinks menu for almost 15 minutes. But once our friends arrived, she wanted orders immediately, but still got one of the mains wrong. We also had to ask for coffee and the bill. This was the first restaurant that I can remember that there was not one Canadian wine on the wine list. So we followed the Winterlicious trend and ordered another Spanish red: Gran Coronas Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. The food was good but basic; again nothing spectacular. I don’t think we would go back.

This is the only restaurant I have been to for 2 Winterlicious’. The last time was around 2005. I did not enjoy my first experience and was looking forward to better one. Two of started with the soup, a butternut squash, one with the salad and one the terrine. All were quite good. For the mains we had two shrimp, the prime rib and the veal. Everyone was again pleased with their choices. Throughout all, we went 4 for 4 and had a Spanish red: Hoya de Cadensas Reserva Tempranillo 2006. We all had the chocolate cake for dessert and it was rich! I found this time to be better than my previous experience.

Overall, I had a great Winterlicious. I always find that the food is nothing but a complement to spending some good friend time. Looking forward to Summerlicious because it starts on my birthday!!!

Today I can start to make my Winterlicious reservations. I have been an avid supporter of this endeavour since it began almost 5 years ago. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the City of Toronto throws a Winter Celebration with lots of events, the main attraction being prix fixe lunches and dinners ($15-$45) at some of the top restaurants in the city. They repeat the idea in the summer, so Summerlicious! I find it’s a great opportunity to meet up with friends and try out new restaurants.

I send out a mass email one month before to see who is interested and as of today (the Amex front of the line rsvp date) we have three outings: French, Moroccan and another French (cafe).